# Let's Name the One Hit Wonders and The Bands that Sang'em **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 1, 2001, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491 "2001-08-01T15:47:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491/41 "2001-08-02T00:22:57Z")
Yo, Dragon Phoenix! Copacabana was the only hit in Holland for Manilow? Think again! _clears throat_ _I remember all my life Raining down as cold as ice A shadow of a man A face through a window Crying in the night The night goes into…_ Any takers, kids? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491/42 "2001-08-02T00:59:12Z")
“Coming Home (Major Tom)” by Peter Schilling and did Aha have any hits other than “Take On Me” ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491/43 "2001-08-02T01:20:27Z")
“pass the duchie” musical youth “electric avenue” eddie grant ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491/44 "2001-08-02T01:26:26Z")
" I know there’s something going on" frieda (yes, I know…She was in abba) “kids in america” kim wilde “close your eyes (total equilpse of the heart)” bonnie tyler “puting on the ritz” taco (oh my I could go on…but I dating myself, aren’t I?!) ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491/45 "2001-08-02T01:39:56Z")
_Sky High_ - Jigsaw _In-a-Gadda-da-Vida_ - Iron Butterfly Well, that’s cheating. Iron Butterfly was a one-hit wonder because it was a one-song band. They recorded other songs on the album, and IIRC on subsequent albums; but all those other songs were In-a-Gadda-da-Vida as well, as it’s the only sound they knew how to make. ---
**Author:** ![Gaspode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gaspode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaspode)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491/46 "2001-08-02T02:04:28Z")
This is definitely an American list. The Proclaimers had a hit with “I’m on my way” back in 1988/89, the same years everyone bar America first heard “500 miles”. Funnily enough someone told me “I’m on My Way” was on the “Shrek” soundtrack. Don’t know if it’s true. Icehouse has to be removed from even an exclusively American list. “Crazy” made it into the top Twenty on the American charts and “No Promises” got to number 5 on the dance charts. Crazy, Man Of Colours and My Obsession all made the Top 40 in Australia. Years before “Hey Little Girl” reached the top ten at home and in the UK and number one on some European charts. Bonnie Tyler had a hit with “Holding Out For a Hero” A-ha had a string of other successes, including the theme song for “The Living Daylights”, which at least reached the top 40. For my own contributions, some of which only Australians and Brit’s may remember. Sam Browne: Stop Fairground Attraction: Perfect Snow: Informer 4 Non-Blondes: What’s up Rednex: Cotoneye Joe ---
**Author:** ![PlanMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2bfe46/32.png) [@PlanMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlanMan)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491/47 "2001-08-02T02:09:41Z")
**DOA** by Bloodrock “We were flying along, and hit something in the air …” Why do I remember that? From, circa, 1970. Actually saw them in concert, but their “warm up” act blew them away: _Ted Nugent_ (don’t know if this was with Amboy Dukes or not). ---
**Author:** ![Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soup)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491/48 "2001-08-02T02:42:49Z")
_What Do All The People Know?_ The Monroes _Back of My Hand_ The Jags ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491/49 "2001-08-02T02:50:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Crunchy Frog \* > \*\* . . . did Aha have any hits other than “Take On Me” \*\* Yes–“The Sun Always Shines On TV” was a Top 20 hit for them in the U.S. Amazingly, they also recorded one of the few James Bond themes **not** to be a U.S. chart hit, “The Living Daylights.” > [@](#): > > “kids in america” kim wilde Nope. She had a second Top Ten hit in the U.S. with her cover of “You Keep Me Hangin’ On.” > [@](#): > > “close your eyes (total equilpse of the heart)” bonnie tyler Gaspode already covered “Holding Out For A Hero,” and Tyler had a #3 hit five years **before** “Eclipse” with “It’s A Heartache.” ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491/50 "2001-08-02T15:36:36Z")
**pld** , either you have a breathless knowledge of the past 50 years of pop music or you are using an extremely comprehensive website. Care to tell us which it is? 😉 MR ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491/51 "2001-08-02T15:47:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pldennison \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Beelzebubba \* > > \*\ ***The Turtles** with “Happy Together” \*\* > > You’re kidding, right? > … > Just to keep things straight, do any of the posters know what “One-Hit Wonder” actually _means_? It doesn’t mean “the only song I can remember by that artist.” \*\* Oh well, so I was wrong…what do I know? Sorry 😉 ---
**Author:** ![FalconFinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@FalconFinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FalconFinder)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491/52 "2001-08-02T16:51:23Z")
Buck Nekked: Gerry Rafferty also had chart success with “Right Down the Line” (One of my favorite songs) How about “Whirly Girl” by Oxo? ---
**Author:** ![Palandine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/958977/32.png) [@Palandine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palandine)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491/53 "2001-08-02T17:00:58Z")
Toni Basil–Mickey Taco–Puttin’ on the Ritz Lots of 80s 1-hit wonders, it seems like… I’m also going to go out on a limb and predict that “The Bad Touch” will be the only hit The Bloodhound Gang ever has. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491/54 "2001-08-02T17:06:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Palandine \* > > I’m also going to go out on a limb and predict that “The Bad Touch” will be the only hit The Bloodhound Gang ever has. \*\* Except that Bad Touch is from their third album. Their first was pretty bad, but the second (One Fierce Beer Coaster) had “Fire Water Burn,” which charted, abnd I think a cojuple other singles were released, like “Hold Your Head Up High”. ---
**Author:** ![Palandine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/958977/32.png) [@Palandine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palandine)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491/55 "2001-08-02T17:12:54Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by JSexton \* \*\* > [@](#): > > …the second (One Fierce Beer Coaster) had “Fire Water Burn,” which charted. \*\* D’oh! I liked that song, I just didn’t realize it was them. I stand corrected. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491/56 "2001-08-02T19:44:05Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Coldfire_ > > _clears throat_ > > \*I remember all my life > Raining down as cold as ice > A shadow of a man > A face through a window > Crying in the night > The night goes into… \* > > Any takers, kids? That was “Mandy,” by Barry Manilow. It continues: _…Morning, just another day. Happy people pass my way. Looking in their eyes, I see a memory, I never realized how happy you made me, Oh Mandy…_ I’ll stop now before you all throw things at me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491/57 "2001-08-02T20:13:03Z")
“Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl)” by Looking Glass. Excellent song; whatever happened to the group. “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” by Julie Covington. Only #1 hit of an Andrew Lloyd Webber song. The first and the best version. Did Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show have any hit besides “Cover of the Rolling Stone”? ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491/58 "2001-08-02T20:29:46Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Annie-Xmas_ > Did Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show have any hit besides “Cover of the Rolling Stone”? They must have; I can recall seeing a “Greatest Hits” album by them. I can’t think of all the songs on it, but one song that I do remember being on the Dr. Hook’s Greatest Hits album was “Sylvia’s Mother.” It was one of those angst-ridden lost-love emotional singer-on-the-verge-of-tears songs, and it contained the immortal line, “And the operator said ‘forty cents more for the next three minutes…’” ---
**Author:** ![Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soup)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491/59 "2001-08-02T20:42:59Z")
“Driver’s Seat” - Sniff and the Tears ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491/60 "2001-08-02T20:46:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Spoons \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > _Originally posted by Annie-Xmas_ > > Did Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show have any hit besides “Cover of the Rolling Stone”? > > They must have; I can recall seeing a “Greatest Hits” album by them. > > I can’t think of all the songs on it, but one song that I do remember being on the Dr. Hook’s Greatest Hits album was “Sylvia’s Mother.” It was one of those angst-ridden lost-love emotional singer-on-the-verge-of-tears songs, and it contained the immortal line, “And the operator said ‘forty cents more for the next three minutes…’” \*\* Yep, “Sylvia’s Mother” was a #1 hit for the band; “Cover Of The Rolling Stone” only reached #2. They also had Top 40 hits in “Only Sixteen” (#6), “A Little Bit More” (#11), “Sharing The Night Together” (#6), “When You’re In Love With A Beautiful Woman” (#6), “Better Love Next Time” (#12) and “Sexy Eyes” (#4). Far from a one-hit wonder. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-the-one-hit-wonders-and-the-bands-that-sangem/74491.md?page=4)